Monroe County, Ga. may get natural gas power plant

Greg Jones, Oglethorpe Power's public relations director, says the plant would be located on land Oglethorpe owns in Smarr, a few miles south of Forsyth. Oglethorpe already owns a smaller gas plant there.

Jones said a 600-megawatt plant would likely cost about $600 million and take about 30 months to build. He estimated the project would create more than 20 permanent jobs and 250 construction jobs.

Oglethorpe Power is a nonprofit cooperative of 39 electric membership corporations that provide power to about 30 percent of Georgians.

The Telegraph newspaper reports that Jones says Oglethorpe is giving member EMCs until the end of the quarter to commit to buying the additional power starting in 2015.